‘ ‘ ‘ “'nev‘vs-r-ymnvqu-‘z‘m-‘m‘q THE BARBUS EARLY NINETEENTH CENTURY PRIMHTVES 4 A BiBLIOGRAPHTCAL ESSAY ' V 7 - ~ Thesis for the Degree of M, A MTCHIGAN STATE UNWERSITY KATHARINE E CONTRENI ABSTRACT THE BARBUS EARLY NINETEENTH CENTURY PRIMITIVES A BIBLIOGRAPHICAL ESSAY By Katharine E. Contreni At the end of the eighteenth century, neoclassical artists abandoned Roman models for recently discovered Greek ones. David's Rape of the Sabine Women of 1799 was a manifesto of the new Greek inspired neoclassicism. Some students in David's own studio, however. wished to base art only on the most primitive and archaic sources. chiefly "Etruscan" vase paintings. This group. the Barbus (also known as Primitifs. Penseurs, or Méditateurs). soon ousted from David's studio and joined by other avant—garde writers and poets, evolved into a spiritual brotherhood concerned with philosophical meditation and the regeneration of society. The Barbus left no extant paintings. A consider- ation of the literary sources which discuss the sect is thus fundamental to an assessment of their role in early Katharine E. Contreni nineteenth century art. The purpose of the present study is to examine and evaluate the literary sources and to suggest new avenues for research on the Barbus. Etienne Delécluze's 1832 essay on the Barbus has long been considered the definitive interpretation of the sect. Most scholars since that time have simply summarized Delécluze's essay and have concluded with him that the Barbus were an impotent artistic sect whose adolescent acti— vities obliterated the original value of their primiti- vistic thinking. No comprehensive study of the group has yet been undertaken. Charles Nodier, a member of the Barbus and a friend of their leader, Maurice Quai, also wrote an essay on the Barbus stressing the essentially spiritual and philosOphic character of the group. This essay has been either neg- lected in the scholarship on the Barbus or dismissed as the romantic exaggerations of an eccentric. Nodier's essay, nevertheless, provides the key, I believe, to a more profound understanding of the group and its signifi- cance for early nineteenth century art. The artistic and spiritual tenets of the Barbus were adopted later in the century by the Nazarenes in Germany and by the Pre-Raphael— ites in England. The Barbus professed an abstract linear— ism that was perfected by Flaxman and by Ingres and which became an international style in Europe. The Romanticism of the 1830's was foreshadowed by the dress and bohemian Katharine E. Contreni behavior of the Barbus. Nodier's neglected essay should be seriously examined as a prime source for the role of the Barbus in these nineteenth century art historical deve10pments. THE BARBUS EARLY NINETEENTH CENTURY PRIMITIVES A BIBLIOGRAPHICAL ESSAY By Katharine E. Contreni A THESIS Submitted to Michigan State University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of MASTER OF ARTS Department of Art ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I would like to express my appreciation to Pro- fessor Eldon Van Liere for his guidance and advice in the preparation of this work. In addition to his criticism of the text, Professor Van Liere helped me procure the accompanying illustrations. The subject of this thesis was suggested in a seminar conducted by Mrs. Elizabeth Gilmore Holt. Her friendship and encouragement sustained me for three years while I worked toward my degree. My illustrations of Flaxman's work.were taken from an early edition of his engravings graciously lent me by Miss Joan Smith. Mr. Walter Burinski and the staff of the Interlibrary Loan Department, Michigan State Uni- versity Libraries, obtained books and copies of articles for me. A grant from the Department of Art, Michigan State University, enabled me to add substantially to the illustrations. I would also like to acknowledge my gratitude to Professor Webster Smith for his helpfulness and counsel throughout my graduate career. To my husband, John, I owe the fact that I am completing this thesis and obtaining my degree. He iii iv frequently interrupted his own work to care for our children while I studied, to share my thoughts and ideas on Art History, and to offer advice and assistance as I wrote and rewrote this work. He was a mainstmy to me from beginning to end. Katharine E. Contreni East Lansing, Michigan August 13, 1971 TABLE OF CONTENTS Page LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS . vi INTRODUCT ION O O O O O O O O O O 0 O O O O O O O O 1 Chapter I O m BARBUS O O O O O O O O O O O O O C O 0 3 II. THE BARBUS: SOURCES . 10 III. THE QAEBU : BIBLIOGRAPHY . 19 Iv.cONCLUSION................ 26 NOTES . 32 BIBLIOGRAPHY . 40 mmmm .. ... ... ... ... ... ... .. 42 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS Plate l 1. Jacques—Louis David, The Ra e of the Sabine Women. Paris, Louvre (photo: Giraudon}. Plate from Sir William Hamilton, Ancient Vases, I, 1791 (photo: David Irwin, En lisE Neoclassical Art: Studies in Inspiration ana TasEe, 1933,. 3. John Flaxman Briseis Leavin the Tent of Achilles. The Iliad pEoEo: JOKE PIaxman, Oeuvres gravées de Flaxman). 4. Paul Duqueylar, Untitled drawing. Paris, Biblio- thhqze Kati onale , Contre-é reuves des cro uis de R. Monsald our les Salons de l'an VIII de I'an IX e? He I'an XII, Id. 39.a., p. 21 (pfioto: er s, o que ationale). 5. ’Jean Auguste Dominique Ingres, Achilles Receives the Ambassadors of A amemnon. ParIs, EcoIe des Heaux-ArEs (photo: Eeorges Wildenstein, Jean Auggste Dominique Ingres, 1180—186], 1956). Jean Auguste Dominique Ingres, Venus Wounded b Diomedes. Private Collection, Easel (pEoIo: WIIHenstein, Ingres). 7. John Flaxman, Iris Bringing venue to Mars. The Iliad (photo: Flaxman, Oeuvres gravées). 8. Jean Auguste Dominique In res, Oedi us and the Sphinx. Paris, Louvre photo: WIIEensIeIn, Ingres). 9. Jean.Auguste Dominique Ingres, The Dream of Ossian. Montauban, Musée d'Ingres (pho 0: ran on . 10. J. P. Granger, Portrait of Madame Gran er. Paris, Louvre (photo: SEerIing and Ithmar, Husée National du Louvre: Peintures 6cole frangaise e 8 'C e, 9 0 vi 11. F. J. Heim, Exhumin the ngal Bones. Paris, Carnavalet (pEoIo: BuIIoz). 12. F. J. Heim, Destruction of Jerusalem by the Romans. Paris, Louvre (pEoEo: Sterling andedhémar, Musée National du Louvre: Peintures école IrangaIse me sIScIe, III 11:5 , 1935. vii INTRODUCTION If the study of Art History is not to be merely a catalogue of stylistic variations, it must probe the cul- tural and historical milieux which generated particular artistic phenomena. It is probably too much to propose a cause and effect relationship between intellectual, social, economic, or psychological factors and the creation of a work of art. These factors, nevertheless, in different degrees at different times, have a role to play in deter— mining the nature of a work of art. A work of art, in other words, is not created in a vacuum; the artist does not create isolated from his civilization or from his times. The aesthetic enjoyment of a work of art is enriched by an understanding of the cultural and historical ambiance in which the work was created. In other cases, quite apart from an aesthetic interest, a work may be historically important in the development of a movement or of an artist. The purpose of this essay is to study a small group of artists that flourished in Paris at the end of the eighteenth century and the beginning of the nineteenth century. This group, the Barbus, is worthy of study, I believe, not only because of its intrinsic interest as an early dissatisfaction with the classicism of David, but 1 2 also because of its connections with later well known artists, Flaxman and Ingres, and with abstract linearism and Romanticism. A study of the Barbus is valuable as a step toward illuminating the prismatic character of classicism and toward understanding the germination of future artistic movements. This essay will do no more than lay the basis for a more comprehensive and profound appraisal of the Barbus. The first chapter of the present study will present an historical sketch of the group. The second chapter will describe the primary sources available for a study of the Barbus. The third chapter will discuss the biblio- graphy on the Barbus. Finally, the concluding chapter will offer some proposals for future research on the Barbus. Because, to my knowledge, no extant painting by any member of the Barbus remains,1 no such illustration can be included in this essay. I will attempt, however, to reproduce as many works as possible by artists peripheral to and influenced by the ideas of the Barbus. I hope that in this way the cumulative effect of the illustrations will give some conception of the vision of the Barbus. CHAPTER ONE THE BARBUS Jacques Louis David exhibited The Rape of the Sabine Women (Pl. 1) in 1799 to proclaim the new direction in neoclassic painting. Explorations of Greek ruins and engravings in various archeological source books had in- creased artists' acquaintance with Greek art.1 David was determined to purify his art by rejecting his former Roman models and by drawing his inspiration from the more antique Greek works. A group of David's students, however, were dissatisfied with his efforts and denounced the Sabine Women which David had declared exemplified the new Greek approach to art. This group, known variously as Méditateurs, Primitifs, Penseurs, or Barbus, wished to model art on archaic works, particularly "Etruscan" vase paintings (P1. 2).2 For them, David's Sabine Women was not pure enough, was not Greek enough. His "Greek" painting paralleled the artistic decadence of the Rococo age.3 Only the most primitive artistic sources were ac- ceptable to the Barbus.